TASK A: READER RESPONSE OF PAK PANDIR UNTHINKABLE BLOCKHEAD AND

MAT JENIN VILLAGE BY THE SEA

At the young age, reading is essential to the children as they will gain knowledge and
expose to the real world. Besides, the children also can react beyond their wildest imagination
by reading (Stockar, 2017). For that reason, their guardians should play the vital role by
introducing them to the suitable materials to be read such as children storybook. According to
Shamir and Korat (2006), children storybook is very important to the children as it helps them
connect with their surrounding indirectly. Thus, the selectivity of the books should be
appropriate to ensure that the children will get the right messages throughout their reading.
So, in my opinion, I think Pak Pandir Unthinkable Blockhead and Mat Jenin Village by The
Sea by Farhan are good folktales genre books for the children to be read. The story in Pak
Pandir is about a man who is always careless in doing any task while in Mat Jenin, the story
is about a man who is always daydreaming and that action leads to misfortune. Therefore, in
these two stories, several elements of children’s literature, suitability of the stories for the
children and how the stories help in personal development of the children will be discussed
further.

First and foremost, one of the elements of children’s literature that will be discussed
based on these two books is the storyline. The storyline of Pak Pandir Unthinkable Blockhead
and Mat Jenin Village by The Sea is a linear story. This is because the author uses only one
main character from the beginning to the end of the story (Galda & Short, 1993). For instance,
Pak Pandir and Mat Jenin are the main characters throughout the stories. The readers can
realise that almost on every page, these two characters involve actively in the stories. Besides,
the storyline of Pak Pandir and Mat Jenin is also interesting as both of the stories give the
readers the suspense elements. The readers will eagerly read the stories continuously as they
wanted to know what happens next to the characters. In Pak Pandir, the readers might want
to know what the consequences Pak Pandir should face after committing his action carelessly.
For example, the readers might want to know what happens to the baby after Pak Pandir
bathes him in the hot water because he forgot his wife’s advice on how to bathe the baby
(Farhan, 2010). In Mat Jenin, the readers will be curious what happened to him when he was
daydreaming on the coconut tree (Farhan, 2010). Therefore, the storyline of these two stories
really affects the readers to read them. Another element that is found in Pak Pandir and Mat
Jenin is the illustration. The illustration used in Pak Pandir and Mat Jenin helps the young
readers grasp the story very well. In these two books, the illustration is just not breathtaking
but it will help the readers to understand the context of the stories. Besides, Nodelman (1999)
also mentioned that young readers usually even remember the story told using illustrations
than through lots of words. In addition, the colourful illustration used in both Pak Pandir and
Mat Jenin are capable of transforming simple folktales into exciting and fascinating ones.

Next, the discussion will be on the suitability of the stories for children. Pak Pandir and
Mat Jenin would be suitable and appropriate for the children as the stories use easy words to
children to understand. The vocabulary used are also familiar and there are glossaries for a
few challenging words that are written in the books. So, the children will enjoy the reading and
at the same time, their vocabulary also will be increased. Further, it is important as the children
have to be familiar with some other words as they will use them later as they grow up
(Plomaritou, 2009). These two books also suitable for the children because each book
contains moral values. Moral values are very important in children’s storybooks in order to
ensure they learn the reasons for taking action, to solve the problem, weighing action before
taking it and the like (Grenby, 2014). In addition, Hasan Zohoor (2003) also stated that the
moral stories in the books give the children the chances to find out the consequences of doing
good or bad deeds. For instance, in Pak Pandir, the children will discover the consequences
if they doing thing carelessly and in Mat Jenin, the children will learn to be hard-working to
achieve something that they want and not keep daydreaming as it does not give any benefits.
So, when the stories have the moral values, the children will also build their good characters
inside them. Therefore, this made the stories are suitable for the children.

Then, the discussion would be on how the stories help in the personal development of
the children. When the children read the stories, their language and thinking actually develop
(Halaqas, 2011). According to Rusu (2015), children are active learners. So when the children
read, they will perceive the information from the books and apply them in their real life. For
instance, the more the children read the storybooks, the faster their vocabulary is expanded
and it will help them to learn new words and the ways of using the words correctly. Hence, this
will help accelerate language development of the children. Next, the stories also help the
children in building up their aesthetic values such as the ability to respond emotionally to
events in his life, to empathise, to experience joy and sorrow, elation, empathy, or, on the
contrary, rejection (Stockar,2017). This happens when the children read the stories and
imagine the situation in the stories with the help of the illustration used, it will stimulate
children’s imagination and fosters natural curiosity. Therefore, automatically it enables
children to create empathy toward other people, values humanity, offering insight into different
lifestyle while recognising universality (Halaqas, 2011). For instance, in Pak Pandir, the
children will feel sympathy after knowing that Pak Pandir’s baby is dead right after Pak Pandir
bathe him with hot water. The children also will feel sympathy for Mat Jenin after he died just
because of him daydreaming atop the coconut tree. So, based on this situation happens, it
actually sharpens children’s aesthetic values. As a result, these two stories help in the
personal development as it helps in children’s language development and enhancing aesthetic
values.

In conclusion, both of the stories, Pak Pandir Unthinkable Blockhead and Mat Jenin
Village by The Sea are totally recommended storybooks for the children as both of the stories
contain several elements of children’s literature, suitable to be read and also help in children’s
personal development. On the other hand, the positive outcomes that are expecting from the
children after reading the stories also will easily be achieved as the stories undergo with the
criteria needed as good materials to be read by the children.
 REFERENCES

Farhan. (2010). Pak Pandir unthinkable blockhead. Subangjaya, Malaysia: Impiana

Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

Farhan. (2010). Mat Jenin village by the sea. Subangjaya, Malaysia: Impiana Publications &
Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

Galda, L., & Short, K. G. (1993). Children's books: visual literacy: exploring art and
illustration in children's books. The reading teacher, 46(6), 506-516.

Grenby, M. O. (2014). Moral and instructive children’s literature. Retrieved from

https://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/moral-and-instructive-childrens-
literature

Halaqas, H. (2011). 10 reasons why books are still important for child development.
Retrieved from http://www.habibihalaqas.org/2011/01/10-reasons-why-books-are-
still-imp-for.html

Hassan Zohoor. (2003). The experiences and challenges of science and ethics: proceedings
of an American–Iranian workshop. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK208723/

Nodelman, P. (1999). Decoding the images: Illustration and picture books. Understanding
children’s literature, 69-80.

Plomaritou, V. (2009). Why are stories important for children? retrieved from
https://www.writersbureau.com/writing/Why-are-stories-important-for-children.htm

Rusu, M. (2015). Ethics and aesthetics in personality development Education and self-
shaping through art. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275271713_ETHICS_AND_AESTHETICS_
IN_PERSONALITY_DEVELOPMENT_Education_and_self-shaping_through_art

Shamir, A., & Korat, O. (2006). How to select CD‐ROM Storybooks for young children: the
teacher's role. The Reading Teacher, 59(6), 532-543.

Stockar, D. V. (2017). The importance of literacy and books in children's development.

Retrieved from http://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/activities/ibby-yamada-
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development/